As senior scientists and engineers, we are deeply concerned that while the government is threatening to cut public funding for research and development as a whole, it appears to be committed to maintaining high levels of military-related R&D. Of particular concern is the fact that world-class research into health and global environmental problems is under threat, while the government continues to fund the multi-billion pound research programme at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston.

Official statistics indicate that the total public spending on R&D is currently about £8 billion. Of this, the Ministry of Defence spends over £2 billion, more than 25% of the total. Much of this funding is used to support defence industry projects at a time when the industry is reaping bumper profits due to the massive increase in global military expenditure over the last decade. Our view is that current MoD R&D funding is not only disproportionate, it also includes expenditure on programmes which are of minimal benefit or counterproductive to the UK’s security. For example, funds for the redevelopment of the Atomic Weapons Establishment’s research facilities “to ensure that the existing warhead can be maintained for as long as necessary, and to enable the development of a successor warhead should one be required” (quoting from AWE's mission statement) will, we firmly believe, undermine progress towards multilateral nuclear disarmament.

Our view is that the UK's nuclear warheads should be taken off deployment and placed in secure land-based storage, and that the successor to the Trident system should be scrapped. The facilities at the AWE should be directed solely to monitoring and verification of arms control and disarmament agreements.

Overall, therefore, we believe that any cuts to public science spending should predominantly come from cuts to the MoD’s R&D.

However, there are some areas of security-related R&D that should be expanded, including those which support monitoring of arms control agreements, non-violent conflict resolution, and tackling the roots of conflict and insecurity.

The over-arching threats to international security arise from rising fuel and resource costs, the impacts of climate change and other environmental problems, and the widening gap between rich and poor. Nuclear weapons are of no help in dealing with these problems – indeed, they are likely to make matters far worse. On the other hand, a major shift of military R&D to civilian programmes of work will – if targeted carefully – help to tackle these international problems, improving the UK's security and also leading to greater job creation and a faster emergence from the current recession. As an example of the current imbalance in resources, we note that the current MoD R&D budget is more than 20 times larger than public funding for R&D on renewable energy.

We therefore urge ministers to shift their priorities so that science and technology can contribute to tackling the real threats to the UK’s present and future security.